Even Baby Buggy Is Streamlined
STREAMLINING, which has invaded the automotive industry and revolutionized railroad design, has at last been felt by the manufacturers of baby carriages. A stormproof, streamlined perambulator recently was exhibited at an industrial fair in London.

Electronic Leash Shocks Sense Into Fido
AN electronic device, called Electro-Leash, can literally shock sense into your pooch â€”shaping him into a show dog or simply teaching him to behave around the house.

The obedience trainer consists of a palm-sized, transistorized pulse generator, 50 feet of wire which also serves as the leash and a dog collar with two tiny electrodes.

Egg Assembly Line Separates Yolks From Whites
AMONG THINGS MACHINES CAN DO better than people are breaking eggs and separating the yolks from the whites. One machine also washes and sterilizes the shells before they are broken. The contents are dropped into separating cups and the empty shells are carried away on a conveyor. The cups carry the whites and yolks
under an ultraviolet light which makes certain bacteria appear fluorescent. The machine operator removes inedible eggs or broken yolks. Whites flow over a shallow inspection tray and into a collection pail. Yolks are separated electronically for light or dark color above a divided chute. Cups are washed before receiving another egg.

This is a really odd marketing idea, then again, it would be a lot easier to target minors at home.

Machine Sells Cigarettes In Home
COIN-IN-THE-SLOT cigarette vending machines built into attractive pieces of furniture are now being placed in American homes. Already twenty thousand of these venders, built into magazine stands and end tables of six different models, have been distributed to home owners.
Machines vending other articles are now being planned. It is intended to make the furniture pieces so attractive that housewives will welcome their placing in the home. Machines are refilled regularly and money collected by agents of the manufacturer.

Anti-pest Doorbell Discourages Agents and Bill Collectors
A RECENTLY invented doorbell of the coin-in-the-slot type is finding great favor with housewives who are continually pestered by salesmen and bill collectors.
A dime must be inserted in the slot of this unit before the push button can be made to operate the bell. If the visitor is unwelcome, he or she loses the dime, but if a friend calls the housewife returns the dime after opening the door.
Agents are a bit hesitant about entering homes equipped with this doorbell, for they are not always confident that they can persuade the lady of the house to buy their products or return the dime.
Movie stars especially, who are continually bothered by autograph seekers and salesmen, are finding that this tittle device adds considerably to their income.

Very interesting article about the industrial designer Egemont Arens, who designed some of the classic consumer goods of the last century (some, like the Kitchen Aid stand mixer, are still available), and his philosophy of design, which sounds remarkably modern.

egmont arens -industrial “humaneer”

arens’ design’s got to look good, sound good, feel good, taste good, smell good, he asks, how easy is it on the nerves?

AFTER ten years of being one of the best industrial designers in the country, Egmont Arens has now become an expert “nerve specialist.” Arens has designed everything from a locomotive to a baby carriage, from a welding torch to a cigarette lighter, from a juke box to a toy horn, and what he has discovered is that the success of any designed object is determined basically by only one thing: how easy it is on the nerves.

Trapped in the nerve-jangling complications and tensions of present-day living, Arens believes that what modern man needs most are simplicity and relaxation in his surroundings. Instead of designing solely for “sales appeal”, or “esthetic presentation” therefore, Arens concentrates on designing an object to the “specifications” of the human system. He calls it “industrial humaneering.” Arens “humaneers” an object by giving it a color and contour which are relaxing to the eye, by giving it a texture and shape which are pleasing to the touch and inviting to the grasp, by muffling any noises which may jar on the ear, by eliminating any odors which may offend the nose, and lastlyâ€”if the object is, say, a reed musical instrument or a toothbrushâ€”by making sure it is compounded of materials which figuratively, as well as literally, will leave the user with a pleasant taste in his mouth. After making it easy on the nerves, Arens completes his humaneering of the object by making it easy on the muscles. In designing, say, a household-cleaning appliance, he will use every trick in the book to insure that in lifting, carrying, cleaning, operating and storing the appliance, the user will be required to do just as little bending, stooping, squatting, reaching, and wrenching as possible.

I’m crushed. I can’t believe the Sharper Image would lie to me like this. For years they’ve been telling us that they are the inventors of the ionic breeze, that it’s space age technology, a miracle of modern science. But it was all a big lie, now I know it was actually invented buy some undetermined person in 1938.

Sharper Image, how can I ever trust you again?

Electrostatic Device Clears Air Of Smoke, Pollen
DESIGNED for home or factory use, a compact electrostatic air cleaner device was recently placed on exhibition at a convention of iron and steel engineers held in Chicago, Ill. The new cleaner is said to remove dust, smoke, and pollen from the air more efficiently than ever before.

In operation the electrostatic cleaner forces the air through an ionizing screen and the solid particles in it, 90% of which would pass through the average filter, are electrically charged. The air is then passed over grounded plates, causing the dust and pollen particles to cling to them.

Alas, none of the attributes included proficiency in L33t5p34k, a hot avatar or a snarky blog. How’s a modern boy to choose?

HOW TO SELECT A MATE

You may think you know why you like certain womenâ€”but you’ll be surprised at what psychologists say about your real motives

By Norman Carlisle

WHY did you marry your wife? If you’re not married, why will you marry? Chances are that whichever of these questions fits your marital state, the answers you give will be wrong. Psychologists probing the reasons why people pick the mates they do emerge with the conclusion that men really don’t know why, for better or worse, they abandon bachelorhood.

Love and sexual attractionâ€”the reasons usually givenâ€”are not, to psychologists anyway, reason enough. What are the real subconscious drives that propel one person into the arms of another?

Dr. R. F. Winch, of Northwestern University, has worked out the theory that you really marry on the basis of psychological need.

“In mate selection,” he claims, “each individual seeks within his or her field of eligibles for that person who gives the greatest promise of providing him or her with maximum need gratification.”

Plastic Plants
Real enough in appearance to fool the eye of any but the most discerning, plastic plants provide attractive floral decorations that require no attention other than an occasional dusting. These plants, made of Ameran plastisol, are not affected by heat up to 175 degrees Fahrenheit and are fire repellent and completely washable. Available in a wide color range, the plastic eliminates the fire hazard of previous artificial foliages. Leaf and stem structure of such decorative plants as Chinese evergreen, Philodendron and Caladium are reproduced by the manufacturer.